


The Ballad of The Mockingjay

by Konzelwoman



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-11 01:55:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3311279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Konzelwoman/pseuds/Konzelwoman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of Mulan, set in Panem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ballad of The Mockingjay

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick A/N: There is a death in this story, and it is depicted with some detail (finding the person post death). It is not gory, and not particularly detailed, more about the emotion of seeing the person, but I just wanted to warn you. 
> 
> There is also some swearing, but only about 3 times.
> 
> And, to avoid confusion, italics are thoughts, thought process, or memories.
> 
> Lines taken directly from The Hunger Games and Disney's Mulan are in no way mine, and all credit is due to the respective owners.
> 
> Artwork by the wonderful ombradellaluna. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the story!

Katniss stormed into her room, sitting down unceremoniously at the old, used vanity in her room.

She slammed her hair pins down onto the worn surface as she pulled them out one by one, letting the intricate braid wrapped around her head that her mother had helped her with fall piece by piece. 

Scowling at her reflection, she saw herself coming back into view, strand by strand that fell. Once they were all out, and her hair was a wild, wavy mess, she stared at her reflection as it stared back at her. 

_Who are you?_ she thought, directing it at the reflection.

Her scowl eased and her face became a blank stare, looking at nothing in particular as she recalled the events of that morning - the ones that brought her here.

_"Little Duck, you look so beautiful!" she had crooned to her younger sister, using the nickname she had coined as a child when Prim had left the back of her shirt untucked, creating a little tail that Katniss would tug on playfully._

_Blushing furiously, her little sister had stared back at her in her own vanity mirror. If you didn't know it, no one would think they were sisters. Prim, with her blue eyes and blonde hair had already lined up just about every boy in town to court her, while Katniss, on the other hand, with her raven black hair and olive skin seemed to have the opposite effect._

_"Oh, Katniss, hush. If anyone in this house looks beautiful, it is you."_

_The women who were still single at the age of nineteen were required by the Capitol to see a matchmaker who would assign them a spouse. Luckily for Katniss, her birthday was just the day before, making her eligible to 'support her country' and be assigned a husband. She cheered sarcastically in her head, nearly rolling her eyes._

_"Prim, do not tell lies."_

_Prim swiveled in her seat with startling speed, making Katniss jump and eye her sister questioningly._

_"You have no idea, do you?"_

_Katniss raised her eyebrows high, the look of confusion on her face making her sister sigh with a kind smile._

_"...The effect you have."_

_Katniss could only look at her sister blankly. Where was this coming from?_

_Prim sighed. "Katniss. You are right. You are not beautiful. You are not pretty."_

_"Well, gee, don't sugar coat it, Pr-"_

_"You are as radiant as the sun."_

Katniss unpinned the pin her friend Madge had given her that morning. 

_She had given Katniss a knowing smile, having been through this once herself because she was stubborn enough to not choose just any man, and finding the man they assigned her incompatible, resulting in an annulment. That matchmaker was never seen again. What was his name.... Seneca?_

_"For good luck," she had said, handing Katniss the pin before hugging her tightly._

Katniss smiled a small smile as she looked down at the pin, rubbing the front absentmindedly with her thumb. It was of a mythical bird called a 'Mockingjay'. Supposedly a symbol of hope, courage, and strength. It was a symbol the Capitol was not very fond of, so Katniss pinned it to the top of her slip under her dress, hiding it from prying eyes. She placed it reverently next to the mountain of bobby pins.

Rising to get a wet wash cloth, she quickly returned to scrub her face of the makeup she wore. 

_Capitol stylists were ushered in every year to make the 'tributes' presentable. The whole thing was publicized and was a major event in the Capitol._

_It made Katniss sick._

_After being poked and prodded and removed of more body hair than she thought was necessary, she had met her stylist, and was pleasantly surprised._

_Cinna was a man who seemed to understand her immediately, and was easy to talk to. He had dressed her in a soft orange gown, almost like the color of sunset, and smiled when he saw her pin in her hand, clutched tightly, because he was, after all, Capitol. Holding a finger up to his lips in a silent 'shhh', he had pinned it to her slip underneath, his eyes kind and almost kindred, and she had breathed a shaky thank you, relaxing as he squeezed her shoulders reassuringly._

_He shot her a grin. "You are stunning, Katniss. That dress makes you look like a flame, a girl on fire. You are sure to be the Capitol's Darling."_

_"Why would the Capitol ever love me?" she thought._

_As if reading her mind, Cinna smiled a kinder, more private smile, and spoke barely above a whisper, "I'm not allowed to bet, but if I could, I'd bet on you."_

Katniss chuckled darkly. Cinna would have lost a lot of money had he done that. 

The matchmaker was a local woman, same age as Katniss, but had married early. Katniss had nearly groaned when she saw the flouncing blonde curls of Delly Cartwright. She was simply too bubbly for any one person to ever be, in Katniss' opinion.

She didn't dwell on how the interview had gone. Because it had been simple.

It went. 

And badly. 

All in all, she had until she was twenty one to be matched, but being told no one wants you, no one would ever want you, why are you the way you are, even in the kind way Delly had said it while still trying to appease the Capitol and their bloodlust....

It hurt. 

She could tell Delly didn't mean the hurtful things. She saw it in her eyes. But she also saw her glancing at the camera people nervously, and she only did what she had to to survive. Katniss of all people couldn't blame her for that.

Staring back at her reflection once again, void of makeup and somewhere along the way her hair had made it's way back into her signature, simple braid, she doubted her life would ever turn out, look up, or move forward.

Things were all mixed up and it scared her. Not knowing what was real, and what wasn't anymore.

She didn't recognize the girl in the mirror, and somehow, that was the most terrifying part. 

X-X-X

Delly's words echoed in her mind as she slept that night. 

_"Too skinny. Not good for baring children."_

_That's okay, Katniss had thought to herself. I don't want any, anyway.  
_

_"You are a disgrace! You may look like a bride, but you will never bring your family honor!" The last words Delly had screamed at her, her eyes wide and full of apologies as she looked over Katniss' shoulder at the wall, not able to meet her eyes until the end when she stared at her, breathing heavily, her face like stone but her eyes conveying what words she couldn't say._

Katniss rolled onto her back, wiping at a tear as it rolled back towards her hair line. She stared at the ceiling, the dim room growing brighter as the line of light from the rising sun crawled across her ceiling.

Deciding sleep was all but a dream at this point, she rose and went to the kitchen finding her father hunched over the counter, his cane leaning next to him, and she saw the fireplace had fresh logs in it. 

"Papa," she said quietly as she approached him, smiling when her turned to her with his own smile. "I would have put new wood on for you. You should have woken me."

Her father sighed, his smile staying the same, but his eyes now showed pain. 

"My little flower, it wasn't that difficult. After your day yesterday, you deserved your sleep."

So he had heard. Her mother must have told him. But bless the old man, he was not judging or pitying her, no. He was just being her father - he was just loving her.

Katniss sighed now herself, taking in the man hunched over the counter. Not too long ago he would rise before the sun on weekends and go out hunting, bringing back meat to trade in town and feed his family. 

The rest of the week he made a small amount of money working in the mines, until the accident. Now he walked with a cane, a hobble in his step, and the lives of lost friends on his shoulder. But it wasn't his fault.

It wasn't long after the canary stopped singing that the explosion happened. 

A mob of men running for their lives could only run so fast, and he had been one of the lucky ones who ran fast enough. 

The Capitol had given them a horse as payment for her father's accident. A way of transportation. But the injury he had made it next to impossible for him to mount the beast, and they could not afford a cart, so he had given it to Katniss. 

She had a system worked out with a local peacekeeper where she would take the horse to a meadow by her house to graze while she snuck away to hunt. It cost her three squirrels a week to the peacekeeper for his silence, and seven a week to the bakery for them to order extra oats and things to feed the animal. 

Katniss filled a kettle with water and put it on the stove. "You know what the doctor said. Three cups of tea in the morning-"

"Katniss-"

"And three at night."

"Katniss." He turned to look at her, the ghost of a smile on his face. "Of course I remember what the doctor said. Your mother is a very persistent woman."

The sudden sound of frantic knocking at their front door startled them both. Before either could move, Katniss' mother was flying down the steps, Prim at her heels. They were probably expecting it to be a patient - a woman in labor or another accident at the mines. 

But they were greeted by Madge, wide eyed and frantic. 

"Madge, what is it?" Her mother asked. 

"My father just got a call. We are at war. The districts are rising up against the Capitol. Apparently there were riots over yesterday's Matchmaking in several districts, and people were shot. A little girl named Rue in 11, and several others I can't remember. The Capitol streets are flooding with protests over what was said to Katniss and several other girls by the matchmakers. People are fed up with the Capitol treating the districts the way they do. They are looking for volunteers to fight in the rebellion."

Madge was out of breath, and paused for a second. Walking past Katniss and gently pushing her mother aside, her father handed her mother his cane and stood tall, wrapping Katniss' friend in a hug, comforting her as Katniss saw her begin to shake, her frantic eyes meeting her own. 

Pushing Madge at arms length, her father leveled his gaze with her. "Tell your father I will fight."

Katniss' feet were moving before her mind, her mouth quick to follow. "No, Papa, you can't!"

"Katniss-"

She turned to Madge. "I volunteer. I volunteer to fight. I'll take his place."

"Katniss-" her father tried again.

"Madge, please." It is just a whisper as she felt tears coming on. Her father placed a hand on her shoulder and spun her toward him, wrapping her in a hug.

"It's time I gave back, my little flower. I was given a second chance. I want to make something of it."

"I want to help, too," Prim's little voice piped up. "I can be a medic. I'm small, no one will notice me in the field, and I know enough. Leave mama here to tend to those sent home. Their wounds will be more severe." 

Katniss' mother's eyes were wide as she looked at Prim, but she nodded silently in agreement. 

"It's decided, then," her father said, pointedly looking at Katniss for the briefest of moments.

Madge glanced at Katniss before addressing her father. "Good. Okay. Keep this to yourselves and report to my father's office tomorrow morning at daybreak. The transport to District 13 for training leaves then."

"I thought District 13 was gone?" Katniss asked no one in particular.

X-X-X

The rest of the day going by in a blur, Katniss found herself walking aimlessly down the hall when she glanced out a window and saw her father practicing with his bow and arrow as the sun set. 

He split arrow after arrow, and as he walked to retrieve the final one from the target, he stepped on his bad leg, and not having his cane with him, he fell to his hands and knees.

Katniss nearly called out to him, but found herself frozen to her spot, watching, as he slowly rose with the help of a nearby tree, and breathed heavily as a crack of thunder sounded not far away. 

That night it was very quiet at the dinner table. Katniss eyed the bags packed and ready by the front door. 

Finally, she had had enough. Slamming her silverware down, she rose to her feet, her chair making an awful skidding sound on the floor as it was pushed back. 

"You shouldn't be doing this. I should be going in your place."

"I want to do it, Katniss. It's an honor for me to protect my country and my family."

"Oh. So you'll die for honor?"

"I will die doing what is right!" Her father rose to his feet, squaring off his shoulders, and standing at his full height. His face quickly winced in pain and he subtly set a hand on the table to take some of his weight. 

Katniss balled her fists at her side and took a deep breath before running out of the house and into the woods. 

The grey churning skies over head seemed to match her mood and the wind picking up speed seemed to propel her forward. 

She found herself at the little cabin by the lake she used to go to with her father beyond the fence.

She sat on the edge of the porch, curled up in a ball as rain fell in sheets around her. The constant drip from the roof landed in a puddle in front of her. Leaning forward, she caught a glimpse of her face in the water's reflection. 

Making her decision as a clap of thunder struck and lightening flashed, she set off in a sprint back home. 

A glance at a clock on the wall told her it was midnight.

Going into her parent's room she quietly took the paperwork Madge had given her father to take to camp, leaving a dandelion she had picked along the way in it's place. 

He would know what it meant. 

Turning to leave, she paused to take in the vision of her parents resting peacefully side by side one last time before leaving the room soundlessly.

Grabbing a hunting knife out of her father's hunting bag, she sat in front of her vanity and held out her braid from it's tip. Bringing the knife to it's base she quickly swiped up, leaving her hair jagged and just to the tops of her shoulders. For some odd reason, she couldn't let go of the braid, so she tucked it away in a drawer in her vanity. A way to leave a piece of her behind should she not return, she supposed.

Her signature braid, the thing that defined her to the world was gone. It felt liberating.

Going next to the back door where her father's bow hung on the wall, and her much smaller one, his old bow, hung next to it. 

Tracing her fingers over her father's bow quickly and lightly, she looked out and saw his last arrow still in the target. Running out into the rain, she retrieved his arrow and placed it in her quiver, taking one of her own and shooting it at the target, hitting the heart to replace his. 

Putting on her father's old hunting jacket, she felt it press on the Mockingjay pin she wore on her shirt. _Hope, courage, and strength._ Throwing her bow across her back, her quiver on one shoulder, and her bag on the other, she went to the stable.

As she passed by Prim's pet goat, Lady, she bleated at her in what Katniss swore was questioning. 

Shushing her quickly, she scratched the top of the goat's head before walking on to their horse, Buttercup.

Petting the horse's head calmingly, Katniss saddled her up quickly, startling when she turned to see a rain soaked Prim in the doorway. 

"Prim!" She hissed. "What are you doing?"

"I should be keeping you from doing something stupid," Prim said, stone faced.

After a short, silent argument made only with their eyes, Prim began to smile. 

"Well then. It's settled. I'm coming with you."

Katniss couldn't argue. They had one horse, and it was cruel to make prim walk that far most likely in the rain.

When they were both on the horse, they looked over their shoulders one last time at the house, putting three fingers to their lips then raising them to the sky. An old gesture in their District, usually used at funerals. It meant thanks, it meant admiration, it meant goodbye to someone you love.

Katniss coaxed Buttercup into a light trot. Once out the gate, she felt Prim's clutch tighten, and she pushed the horse into a full gallop. Refusing to cry, and refusing to look back, she stared straight ahead, readying herself for what she could only hope was destiny.

X-X-X

A particularly loud clap of thunder sounded, and Mr. Everdeen woke with a start. Something was wrong. 

Looking at his bed side table, he saw the dandelion and his stomach dropped. "Oh, my little flower," he mumbled.

Quickly grabbing his cane and hobbling into Katniss' room, he found her bed made and empty. Prim's was the same. 

At the bottom of the stairs his bags were still there, but Prim's were gone.

When he reached the kitchen and hurried out the back door, he looked at his bow, and at the empty space where Katniss' was. He ran his hand over his face in aggravation, turning to look out at the tree line, and through the falling rain, saw Katniss' arrow in the target. 

Hobbling out as fast as he could, he pulled it from the bullseye. 

Clutching it tightly in his fist, he began to tear up in anger, and looked up to the sky, shouting, "What did I do? What did I do wrong? I had a second chance. She only has one. Why? Why is it wasted like this?!"

Looking down to the arrow in his hand, his voice became a broken whisper. "Why?"

Looking back up to the sky, squinting from the rain, he shouted once again, "If this is how it's going to be, can I at least get some kind of miracle? I got one. So should she."

Looking back toward the house, he held three fingers to his lips, then raised them to the sky. 

X-X-X

Haymitch woke up on a park bench at the train station in District 12. 

Groggily he rubbed his eyes with one hand, pulling it down toward his mouth, and took in his surroundings. 

Stilling after a moment, hand frozen over his mouth, he looked around again, eyes darting. Glancing down he saw he was dressed in grey pants, a sweater, and on his head was that.... A beanie? He reached up tentatively, touching the offending cap as if it would bite him.

_No. No, no, no!_

Letting his hand fall to his lap with a slap, he groaned as liquid splashed all over him. Looking down he saw his other hand held a bottle of some alcohol in a brown paper sack. 

Throwing his head back as far as it would go, he eyed the sky lazily. "Really?" He said calmly. 

"Really?!" This time he shouted. "I am an angel, for hell's sake!" Thunder boomed and he winced. "Sorry. But come on! A hobo? An alcoholic hobo?" He was gesturing wildly, his beverage spilling everywhere. Glancing over at the bottle, he delicately set his arms down. "Okay. I won't complain about the alcohol, but.... A beanie? Really?" He narrowed his eyes at the sky.

Letting his head fall back to normal position, he nodded, the only one able to hear the other end of the conversation. "Yeah, yeah, I'll go help sweetheart. But you owe me."

Just then someone came and sat on the bench right where Haymitch was, passing right trough him.

Throwing his head back again, his eyes wide to the sky, he mumbled, "Well, this is just wonderful."

X-X-X

Katniss and Prim had arrived at the mayor's office just as twilight broke. 

_The dawn of a new day. A new me. Or maybe just the start of how I find myself_ , Katniss thought.

District 13 was apparently alive and well, sending several hovercrafts to pick up the recruits. 

Helping her father out, Madge came by to pick up everyone's paperwork before getting on the craft. She eyed Katniss warily. "Katniss...."

"Madge, I'm going. End of story."

"Okay," her friend whispered with a tight smile and a short nod. "There's a stable area in the back. You can stay back there with Buttercup if you like."

"Thank you," Katniss said gratefully, reaching out and giving her friend a tight squeeze. She felt tears in her eyes when Madge squeezed her back, and smiled when her friend whispered in her ear, "Go kick some ass, girl."

Leading Buttercup back to a stall, she settled in across from the horse once she was sure she was secure. 

Taking out her father's hunting knife, she tossed it absentmindedly as she felt the aircraft take off. 

Catching the hilt in her hand she stilled when she heard deep laughter coming from one of the stalls. 

Coming around a corner a deranged homeless man leaned on the frame of the empty stall three down from Buttercup and looked straight at Katniss, a glint in his eye. 

"Hello, sweetheart."

He didn't startle, but looked wide eyed at the knife wobbling in the wall inches from his face. Slowly he grinned. "Good aim, darlin'!" The horseshoe hanging on the wall by it was spinning. "You hit a horseshoe. Ain't that lucky or something?"

"Who are you?" Katniss asked defensively, her hand on her bow still around her chest, ready to pull it off and aim.

Pulling the knife from it's spot in the wall, the man tossed it himself as he spoke, walking out of the stall, Katniss mirroring him to stay in front of him.

"When you pulled that little stunt this morning, which, by the way, took extreme bravado, your father asked for a miracle."

Katniss began to tear up. This day was probably the most she had cried in a long time, and it had barely begun.

"Said something like, he already had a second chance, so you deserved one, too."

She smiled despite the urge to cry. 

"Then he did some salute-thingy."

A tear finally escaped.

The man finally looked away from the knife, and back at her, a grin starting up his face.

"Don't take this the wrong way."

"Take what the wrong way?" Katniss scowled.

Suddenly the knife was in the wall beside Katniss's face. She turned from it back to the man, who shrugged. "That. I was just returning your knife."

Katniss pulled it out and sheathed it. "Who are you?" She repeated.

Finally standing still, the man spread his arms wide, elbows at his waist. "I am your guardian angel."

"My what?"

The man started to scowl. "I'm the miracle your father asked for."

Katniss couldn't help but laugh. "My miracle is a hobo?"

The man looked up, mumbling something along the lines of I told you so, before looking back to Katniss and smiling, her laugh becoming infectious. "Hey, I'm here to help you and possibly save your life a time or two, so play nice. I didn't choose the outfit."

"Fine, fine. What is your name, miracle man?"

"Haymitch."

He walked toward her and shook her hand. 

"So, angel, huh?" She asked. "Got any talents I should know about?"

"My powers are beyond your mortal imagination. For instance, my eyes can see straight through you-" Katniss slapped him. Rubbing his cheek he continued, "To your soul beneath. Geeze."

"Sorry," Katniss mumbled.

"Do you treat your cow this way?" He motioned to Buttercup, reaching out to the horse, recoiling when she tried to bite him. "Down, Bessie."

"That's a horse."

"Right. And I suppose you are a leprechaun!" 

Katniss stared back at him.

Forging on, Haymitch continued, "Only you can see and hear me."

"That could come in handy." Reaching out and petting Buttercup, she scowled and said, "But still... I got a hobo as an answer to a prayer?"

"All right!" Haymitch threw his hands up in the air, letting them slap back down at his sides. "That's it! No miracle! No miracle for your whole family!" He looked up at the sky again. "Make a note of this," Looking back to Katniss, gesturing to her exaggeratedly with both hands, "No miracle for you!" Gesturing to Buttercup, "No miracle for your cow!"

"Fine! Fine." It began as a shout, but ended quietly as someone walked in to feed his horse an apple. "I'm sorry. Please help me."

"Then you're gonna have to trust me. And no more slapping. You got that?" He waved a finger in her face and she nodded. "All right. Let the games begin!" Looking at Buttercup, he waved his finger in her face. "And no biting from you, heifer." 

Suddenly the guy who was feeding his horse an apple walked right through Haymitch, and leaned against the stall door across from Katniss.

Haymitch glared at him, making Katniss smile. 

"Hi," the guy said. "I'm Rye."

"Hi." She offered her hand and they shook. 

Haymitch began mimicking Rye behind him, and Katniss had to bite her cheek to not laugh. 

"Do I get a name?" Rye smiled. 

Haymitch mimicked him in a ridiculous voice.

"Um," Katniss scowled over Rye's shoulder at Haymitch mouthing "No!"

Rye narrowed his eyes questioningly and looked over his shoulder, Haymitch stopping his mouthing and smiling an innocent smile as he batted his eyelashes at Rye. 

"Did you see something?" Rye asked, and Katniss had to hold her breath to not laugh at the silly faces Haymitch was making inches from Rye's face.

"Nope."

Just then a chime sounded, indicating they would be landing soon and should strap in. 

Rye went back to the main cabin and Haymitch sat next to Katniss. "You need a new name. The Capitol knows you. You are one of the ones who got people riled. Since you cut your hair, you should say your Katniss' twin who went beyond the fence years ago, or something. They will try to make you a medic like your sister, being a woman and all, but let them see you shoot. You'll be top dog in no time."

X-X-X

Walking into the camp beside Prim, leading Buttercup behind her, Katniss was a little taken aback. It was chaos. Everything was underground, and they were currently in a large hanger.

After showing their papers, Prim was told to go to the medical wing, and Katniss to continue on to the center of camp, and someone came to put Buttercup in the stables. Sharing one last, tight hug, Katniss whispered in her little sister's ear, "Good bye for now, Little Duck. I love you." With a last squeeze from Prim, Katniss let go and watched her walk away, smiling as she reached back to make sure her tail was tucked in. 

Shortly after making her way to the center of camp, Rye found her again. 

"Hey," he said, sliding into step with her. 

"Hi," Katniss replied, trying to smile back, his own being infectious. 

They walked in silence, observing the people around them, stopping as they heard one conversation in particular. 

"Not really?" She recognized her friend Gale's voice. 

Turning the corner, she saw him inspecting the bare chest of an Adonis of a man who held his shirt open proudly, displaying a tattoo of an anchor on one of his pecs. 

"Yes, really!" Adonis said. 

"Finn, come on," Gale chuckled. 

"No. This tattoo will protect me from harm!"

Gale nodded in defeat, holding his chin thoughtfully, before suddenly punching Finn in the stomach. 

"Oof!" Finn hunched over in pain. "Jack ass!" He huffed out. 

Gale was holding his stomach as he laughed. "Whatever, man!" Turning as his laughter faded, he saw Katniss. "Catnip?" His voice was a mixture of disbelief and relief.

Haymitch appeared beside him, arms crossed, one finger pointing at Gale. "Fix it," he said, poofing away again.

Katniss plastered on a smile. "Hey, Gale! Can I talk to you for a second?"

Pulling him aside, before she even got to begin, he started asking questions. "Katniss, what's going on? You never smile like that unless it's Prim or you just shot something while hunting." 

_Dammit._ Her face quickly melted into her natural scowl and she talked in a hushed voice. "I'm not supposed to be here. I'm not Katniss. It's a long story, that I don't want to explain, and you probably wouldn't believe me, so please, just let me handle it."

After going back and forth with Gale, being evasive in her answers, and Gale finally nodding in agreement despite his confused look, she started to back away and accidentally backed into Rye, who bumped into Finn, and so on through the hall, causing egos to be bruised and fights to break out. 

Standing off to the side, Katniss watched in horror as things escalated. 

Haymitch appeared beside her. "Why is it everywhere you go, people end up in a tizzy?" He winced as Finn tackled Rye, landing at their feet.

X-X-X

Peeta sat across from his father looking over a map covered in pieces representing various battle scenarios.

"I think that is the best plan," he said, looking at his older brother Benjamin beside him, who nodded in agreement. Ben never talked much. People always joked that it evened out the amount that Peeta spoke.

His father nodded as well. "Then I will go ahead of you with my men. Have the element of surprise."

"Excellent!" Commander Paylor's assistant Effie Trinket crooned. "I love surprises!"

The three men smiled politely, sharing wary glances. Effie could be a little over the top in both dress and personality.

"You will stay and train the new recruits," his father continued on, looking at Peeta. 

He couldn't help his smile. Finally he would get his chance to prove himself.

"When Effie thinks you are ready, you will join us.... _Captain_." The elder Mellark winked at his son on the last word. 

" _Captain_?" Peeta repeated, his voice a disbelieving whisper.

" _Captain_?!" Beside his father, Effie shouted incredulously, her bright orange hair bobbing with the opening and closing of her jaw in disbelief. "He's not ready! This is a huge responsibility! Perhaps someone with more experience-"

Not looking away from his son, Mr. Mellark seemed almost amused. "Top of his class, well versed in military strategy, he's a Mellark...." All three men chuckled, Effie's lips drawing into a tight line. "He's ready, Effie. I believe Peeta will do an excellent job."

"Oh, I will, father," Peeta spoke eagerly, like a kid at Christmas. "I won't let you down. This is.... I mean...." For what must be the first time in his life, Peeta found himself at a loss for words, so he just stopped trying, and cleared his throat. "Thank you, father. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't," his father smiled and rose to leave the room, "Come on, Benjamin. Peeta, we'll celebrate our victory at the next Harvest Festival. Effie, I expect a full report in three weeks."

"And I won't leave anything out," Effie said pointedly to Peeta, before following Mr. Mellark out, her heels clacking against the dull grey floors. 

Peeta hung back, that goofy smile still on his face. Puffing up his chest, and squaring off his shoulders, he stuck out his chin as if posing for a picture. "Captain Peeta Mellark," he said, looking off into the distance, his grin only growing. "Leader of the rebellion's finest troops. No- the greatest troops of all time!" He laughed quietly as he exited the room, stopping beside his brother and father as he took in the scene in front of him.

His brother Rye was wrestling with Finnick Odair from 4.

Gale Hawthorne was stalking in a circle around Johanna Mason from 7.

And behind it all, standing and watching was Katniss Everdeen. He had watched her through the glass window of the bakery back in 12 when that had been his family's business years ago, but when rumor had gotten to them that rebellion was brewing, they packed up and left for 13, becoming somewhat of a legendary name, not for baking, but military strategy. Peeta still wasn't quite sure how that happened. 

Her hair was shorter, and she had obviously grownup, becoming a beautiful young woman.

He didn't have time to dwell on anything for long, though, before Finnick stumbled up to the three men, held a hand to his forehead as he tried to salute, wobbling, before falling straight on his face. 

"Most impressive," Effie said sarcastically, surveying the scene.

Mr. Mellark stepped over Finn and to the elevator. Before the doors closed behind him, he called out to Peeta over the din of the fighting, "Good luck, Captain." Both he and Benjamin raised three fingers to their lips then raised them to the sky.

Once the doors were closed and it was just Peeta and Effie, Peeta put three fingers to his lips and raised them to the sky as he whispered, "Good luck, father."

_It means thanks, it means admiration, it means goodbye to someone you love._

Peeta took a deep breath as he turned back to the scene before him. 

"Day one," Effie said, smiling politely but her voice dripping with sarcasm as she drew out the words, her pen hovering over her clipboard. 

"Soldiers!" Peeta called, approaching the group. 

Everything stilled, almost comically, before everyone backed away like opposing magnets from one another.

Finnick pointed at Rye. "He started it!"

"Nu-Uh! She did!" Rye said, pointing to a wide eyed Katniss. 

_I wonder if she remembers me,_ Peeta thought, dismissing it almost instantly. This wasn't the time or place to reminisce. But what the hell. It might be fun.

Walking up to her, standing at his full height, Peeta towered over her, surprised when she stood taller as well.

"I don't need anyone causing trouble in my camp." 

Her eyes went wide again, and he wanted to comfort her, but he also loved to see her squirm, so he stood his ground. He was Captain, after all. This had to be a perk, right?

"Sorry," she said quietly.

"What’s your name, soldier?"

"Uh…."

After she stuttered for a few seconds, Effie approached her and got uncomfortably close. Katniss looked very uneasy. Peeta wanted to laugh at the scowl she shot Effie.

"Your commanding officer just asked you a question!" Effie said, her voice rising and going shrill on the last word.

"Uh.... Uh, I've got a name. And it's a good name, too."

Haymitch appeared, causing Katniss to jump, which Effie took as a reaction to her proximity, and smiled triumphantly before backing away. 

Haymitch was leaning on Peeta’s shoulder with one elbow, his head resting against his fist, his other hand rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “How about Gale?”

"His name is Gale," Katniss said through gritted teeth nodding her head toward Gale.

"Oh. Yeah. That’s kinda a hard one to mess up. How did I do that?" Haymitch barked as Katniss resisted the urge to roll her eyes. 

"I don’t want to know Gale’s name, I want to know your name," Peeta said impatiently.

"Boy’s got bal-"

"Haymitch!" Katniss bit out through gritted teeth, cringing.

"Haymitch?"

"No."

"What's a decent liquor brand that makes for a good name?" Haymitch could go to hell as far as Katniss cared.

"Soldier, give me your name or-"

"Kit," Haymitch said as if a lightbulb had gone off.

"It’s Kit," Katniss said as confidently as possible.

"Kit?" Peeta looked at her questioningly.

"Although Kit did steal my girlfri-"

"Yes, my name is Kit." 

Haymitch huffed and poofed out. 

"Let me see your papers."

Peeta examined the paperwork she handed him.

"This is for a Mr. Everdeen."

"That is my father. I came in his place."

"I grew up in 12. I knew Mr. Everdeen. He had two daughters. Prim and Katniss. I never saw or heard of a 'Kit'."

_He grew up in 12_?She faintly remembered a little blonde haired boy that worked in the bakery and had the most beautiful blue eyes.... _Peeta_?

"I, uh, I'm Katniss' twin."

"I never knew Katniss had a twin?" He narrowed his eyes at her. What game was she playing?

Haymitch appeared behind Peeta, smiling an "I told you so" grin at Katniss.

"They don't talk about me much."

"With that haircut, it's no wonder why," Effie said under her breath. 

"Well. Everyone, thanks to our new friend Kit, you all have to get up an hour early tomorrow."

Katniss winced at the groans.

"Five o'clock? Are you kidding me?" She heard someone say. 

"And training will go an hour later."

Katniss could feel the daggers of people's glares.

"We need to work on your people skills," Haymitch said.

Katniss finally gave in and rolled her eyes. 

X-X-X

Thankfully Katniss was assigned a room all to herself. 

"Hey, sleepy head," she heard a voice say. 

Opening her eyes to see Haymitch staring at her she groaned and rolled over.

She gasped when the blankets were yanked off her.

"Wakey, wakey!"

Katniss sat up with a scowl and rubbed her eyes. 

"I got breakfast for you. Look. You get gruel!"

She eyed the mixture wearily.

"And it's happy to see you!" Haymitch snapped his fingers and berries appeared in a smiley face on the top of the gruel.

"Am I late?" Katniss asked groggily, smiling at the bowl in his hands despite herself. 

"Now remember, it's your first day," Haymitch said, ignoring her. "Do what the teacher says, play nice with the other kids, unless the other kids want to fight, then you kick the other kids' butt."

"But I don't want to kick anyone's butt," she said around a mouthful of food.

Haymitch grimaced. "Don't talk with your mouth full. Now let me see your war face."

Katniss looked up at him, cheeks full of food.

In an over dramatic voice, Haymitch put a hand to his mouth. "Ooooo! Well I think my bunny slippers just went and ducked for cover."

Katniss swallowed and shot a scowl his way. 

"Now that's it! Why didn't you do that in the first place?"

She deepened her scowl.

"Scarier by the minute, darlin'." 

X-X-X

They were going to the surface for training today. 

Katniss relished in the fresh air and still nature in the twilight, jumping slightly when someone spoke behind her. 

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Peeta. 

Opening her eyes she turned to look at him and instantly wished she hadn't. Even in the low light his hair looked like gold, his blue eyes sparkled like pools of water, and he was actually smiling at her. All while shirtless. 

She looked him over once in what she hoped was a subtle way, but when her gaze returned to his face, his smirk told her she was far from subtle. 

"Enjoying the view?"

"Eh."

Peeta chuckled.

"And what about you? You seem to be enjoying the scenery as well."

"Indeed. It's my favorite thing to paint."

Katniss was trying to come up with the word, "What?" but was too flabbergasted for her brain to work. Before she knew it, Peeta had pulled a throwing knife out of who knows where, and flung it at the top of a tall tree. 

He turned and addressed the group. "Who would like to be my first volunteer?" When no one answered, he perused the faces, finding Finnick yawning as he glared at Katniss. "Finnick." His head snapped to look at Peeta. "Get my knife back."

Haymitch suddenly appeared beside Peeta, leaning over as if conspiring with him. "I could get that, you know, Pretty Boy. And I could do it with my shirt _on_." Katniss rolled her eyes despite her smile. 

People tried for hours, even Johanna, but there was one spot on the tree no one could seem to get past. Finally Peeta gave up and moved on to the rest of the training.

Disappointment would be an understatement for how he felt. They were all terrible. No one had focus, they all goofed around, and Katniss was so slight, he hated putting her through it, even though he knew she was strong despite her size.

Turning in for the day, he hoped tomorrow could only be better. 

When he woke the next morning and took the elevator to the surface, he was greeted with his knife thrown into the ground between his feet, piercing the dirt inches from severing a toe. 

Looking up into the tree, he had to shield his eyes from the rising sun. Sitting atop the highest branch, the sun rising behind it sat a silhouette he could never mistake. Within seconds she was on the ground again and running past him. "You're welcome."

They did archery that day. Gale was pretty good, as was expected, but when Katniss came up to the mark, Peeta heard snickering among his soldiers.

"Johanna! Finnick! Rye! Go stand in front of those three trees," Peeta ordered. 

They looked between one another, but obeyed quickly. Gale smiled knowingly and looked at Peeta, shaking his head in disbelief. 

"Katniss, how's your aim?"

The three faces against the trees paled.  

"Stand still, guys!" Peeta told them, grinning manically.

Leaning over to Katniss, he whispered something in her ear, and within seconds she had nocked an arrow and let it fly, hitting the tree with a thud an inch from Johanna's right ear. 

"What are you, brainless?! You could have killed me!" She shouted. 

"But I didn't." Katniss smirked. 

Peeta covered his mouth with his hand and mumbled to Katniss again, seconds later an arrow was sticking out of the tree above Finnick's head, still wiggling from impact.

Finnick opened his eyes that had been screwed shut, ducked down, patting his head. "You cut my hair!"

Rye pointed and laughed at Finnick, freezing when an arrow landed between his legs, precariously close to certain.... Things. 

He looked down, arm still outstretched, frozen, then slowly looked up at Peeta, his eyes wide with fear and his lips a thin, tight line. 

Peeta turned to Katniss with a grin. "Nice choice! I like the way you think."

Rye started laughing, hysterically almost. "I'm gonna kill you," he said between laughs, turning his gaze on Peeta.

X-X-X

At the end of the first week Peeta asked Katniss to stay behind on the surface with him after training.

Lingering in the tree line as the rest took the elevator down, Katniss passed the time by shooting leaves out of the trees.

When a tap on her shoulder startled her, she spun around, arrow ready to fly, only to have it knocked out of her hands along with the bow, clattering to the ground. "Damn you, Peeta!"

"Excuse me?" He grinned despite himself. 

"Uh, I'm.... Uh, I.... I'm sorry sir!" She stood tall at attention. 

"At ease, soldier," Peeta playfully jabbed, earning him an eye roll. 

"Sorry." She stooped down to pick up her bow, "You just startled me."

"And that is why I asked you to stay. We need to work on your hand to hand combat. Throwing things at targets? Excellent. Archery? Five stars. Hand to hand? Eh...."

"He's got a point," Haymitch said, leaning on a tree nearby.

"Fine," Katniss nodded, sheathing her arrow and slinging her bow across her shoulders.

"Follow me," Peeta said, turning to lead the way to the training field. 

Once there, Katniss looked around, a nostalgic smile starting up her face as she took off her bow and quiver. 

"What?" Peeta asked, catching the look on her face. 

She ducked her chin to hide her blush as she leaned her bow against a tree. 

"You like him, don't you?" Haymitch asked, suddenly leaning on the tree. 

She shot him a death glare as he smirked and winked before turning back to Peeta. "It's just.... This is a lot like a meadow back home. Prim and I used to go there all the time and pick flowers."

Peeta's lips drew into a thin line as he gave a small nod. "I know that meadow. I used to go there to draw. I could never quite get the willow tree right."

"Oh?" Katniss voice had raised several octaves. 

"Yeah. I saw Katniss there with Prim all the time, but I never remember seeing you."

_Oh. Right. I'm not me._

"I.... I meant Katniss went there a lot. I went at night to watch the stars."

"Me, too. In fact, I did once to get out of the house. My mother's screaming was at an all time high and that was the first place I thought of. I talked to Katniss for a good while. I'm surprised she didn't mention it."

"That wasn't Katniss. That was me." She went to fiddle with the end of her braid, remembering it wasn't there. 

"Oh?"

She caught his cheeks burning, and she was sure hers did the same. He had given her a drawing of a dandelion that night, years ago, and shared something he had brought with him that he called a cheese bun.

"So. On to wrestling." Peeta clapped his hands together, meeting her gaze. She had a flashback to school years and years ago. Peeta was on the wrestling team. He hauled bags of flower that must have weighed as much as she had at the time. No wonder the Mellark's became a facet of the military here. 

"Turn around," he said, to which she raised her eyebrows. "Oh, come on, Kit. Just humor me." Slowly she turned, her back to him as she faced a still smirking Haymitch. 

Suddenly two strong arms were wrapped around her waist, pinning her arms to her sides, her body pulled flush with his much too shirtless one.

"Oof!" Katniss huffed, the wind knocked out of her. 

"Now," his voice was right above her ear, his chest vibrating with every word. "What would you do in this situation?"

"Well I can tell you he will _pitch a tent_ , if you know what I mean," Haymitch drawled, his amusement evident in every feature on his face. 

She hid her laughter in a clear of her throat, talking as calmly and quietly as possible. "Are you asking me to show you, tell you, or step through it?"

"Step through it. I'd prefer no broken bones."

"Well, first I would bash your face with the back of my head."

"Right!" He pulled away and changed into another position, facing the opposite direction of her, and holding her upper arm tightly in his hand. His fingers barely met. "And what about now?"

She thought for a moment. "Well, I would pull that arm back-"

"Not yet."

"Okay. I would swing around so you were in front of me, pulling that arm back as I squatted down so any initial swings would miss, then go for the groin when you turn around."

"What could you do instead of waiting for me to turn around?"

"Punch or knee the kidneys."

"Yes." He looked around at the setting sun. "Last one, then we will head back. It's getting late."

Katniss nodded as he turned back to her. 

Gently placing two hands around her neck, he asked quietly, "What do you do when this happens?"

"Apply pressure at the inside of the elbows, or use your legs to hit a major area, but don't flail too much, because you will waste oxygen."

He nodded and moved his hands to her shoulders. "And what about n-"

She reached up with both of her arms between his, pushing out with her forearms. Once his arms fell, she curled her fingers but left her palm flat, pushing it under his chin in a quick punch. As he reached up to grab his jaw, she dropped and swung her leg and swept his legs out from under him. Falling to the ground with a thud, she straddled him and applied all her weight, digging her knees into his ribcage and grabbing his hands, pinning them together at his wrists above his head.

The only sound was her heavy breathing and Haymitch's slow clap from the trees accompanied shortly by his dry tone. "And that, my friends, is how a revolution dies."

Leaning over so their noses almost touched, she grinned. "That. That is what I would do." She pulled back to a seated position before rising and standing over him, a hand held out to help him up.

He stared up at her, his jaw opening and closing in disbelief. "Where did that come from?" He finally managed, taking her hand.

She smiled as she pulled him up. "I have a good teacher."

"At least she listens to _somebody_ ," Haymitch called out.

X-X-X

The next morning Katniss awoke with a sense of gloom hanging over her. She moved slowly, and everything seemed dull, but she didn't know why. 

When she left her room and headed to the elevator, she saw people running to the main hanger she had come in her first day. 

Peeta came jogging up to her in the hallway. "What's going on?" 

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

Gale ran up to them, his face pale, but his cheeks flushed from exertion. "District 12," he huffed, gasping for breath between words. "Bombings.... Refugees.... Here.... In hanger...."

Katniss felt her stomach drop. She and Peeta shared a look. 

"Gale, what about the district. How badly was it hit?"

He looked up from where he was leaning on his knees. "There is no district 12."

Peeta had a look of horror, which quickly melded into recognition, then sadness as he turned to Katniss. "That's where my father and brother were sent."

Katniss felt lightheaded. "Prim was their medic."

The three of them took off for the hanger, a new burst of energy surging through them. 

Arriving there shortly, Peeta told Gale to gather the core group and get a hover craft ready to go to 12. 

Peeta wandered off in search of Effie, and Katniss searched for her parents.

Spotting them a short distance away, she sprinted across the short space to them, embracing them both upon impact, sobs wracking her body. 

Her father rubbed her back soothingly as her mother whispered what had happened through unshed tears. 

"The peacekeepers started public executions. The men from 13 came, and they had a back and forth for a few days. It happened at night. They went to seize the peacekeepers remaining men only to find them gone. The hover crafts came not long after. They loaded as many of us on their own ships as possible and stayed behind." Her voice began to wobble even more. "Prim was right beside me, I swear. I don't know how or why she got off the ship, but she did.... Then the bombs started falling."

Katniss was biting her knuckle to try not to sob any harder. She felt sick. She felt angry. She felt sad. She felt rage. She felt numb. 

"Kit!" She heard Peeta call above the din in the hanger. She looked his way and saw him waving her over.

"Kit?" Her father asked. 

"It's a long story. I've got to go." And with one last hug, she walked toward the ship, taking her bow and quiver from Gale, and continuing on to her seat, buckling in and staring at the wall across from her, trying to keep the nightmarish thoughts at bay.

X-X-X

"Sweetheart?" Haymitch had appeared in the vacant seat next to her. She didn't acknowledge him. She kept staring straight across from her at the wall between Gale and Peeta. 

It was as if they represented her life. Gale, an old friend, a constant throughout the years. Peeta, a faded memory of long ago brought back to the forefront of her mind the last week. And the wall, the stand in for her, stuck between the old Katniss and the new Kit. It was like when she looked in the mirror that fateful day and asked her reflection, _Who are you_?

"Katniss?" Haymitch ventured quietly again, her face still like stone. "Darlin', I know you can hear me, and responding in these close quarters will only make you look crazy, so.... Touch your Mockingjay pin if you can hear me but want the rest of the room to think you still have your sanity."

Katniss reached up, seemingly absentmindedly, and fiddled with the pin, her face unchanging. 

"Well lookie here! We have quite the actress on board, folks!"

A small smile graced her lips as she tucked her chin down to hide it, feigning interest in the pin. Glancing up at him for only a second gave her a comforting sensation. A sensation of home. Of hope. Of courage to face whatever came her way. 

But the sad smile on Haymitch's face told her she was showing anything but those things. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing reassuringly. "You have the personality of a dead slug."

Katniss laughed an actual laugh, snorting, attempting to hide it with a cough. She didn't even care about the looks she received. 

Haymitch's smile reached his eyes now. "But you do have your virtues."

Leaning her head back and turning it to face him, she asked a silent question. _Haymitch, what do I do?_

Squeezing her shoulder one last time, he mirrored her pose, leaning back in his own chair, and turning his face to hers. "Remember who the real enemy is."

X-X-X

The hovercraft cabin was silent after it touched down, the engines cutting, leaving only the stale, tense air of everyone's short breaths.

Katniss looked around her, finding the others doing the same. She was surrounded by friends. Peeta, Gale, Finnick, Johanna, and Rye.

When the platform lowered, they all squared their shoulders, Finnick and Johanna hanging back to let the other four return home first. 

At first the high afternoon sun was too bright, blinding them all briefly. But when it all came into focus, their jaws hung open, their eyes spilled over with tears, and their cries were silent. 

Katniss turned to Peeta and saw his jaw clenched tightly. Gale started to venture off, walking as if dazed. Rye was right beside Peeta.

Turning to Finnick and Johanna, she wanted to hug them. Though it was not their home, the look of loss and anger on their faces was as pure as her own. 

Peeta cleared his throat. "I was told they set up in the school building. We should start there."

The wind whistled and whispered the dirt in swirls around them, it's song reminiscent of a haunting cry. 

As they set off toward the school, Katniss felt the growing urge to vomit, realizing the dirt blowing on them was probably the ashes of people. And whether she knew them or not, each spec felt like a knife as it hit her skin. 

Soon the overwhelming stench of roses filled the air, and they saw the school building atop a small hill. The bell in the tower that usually called for children to come and learn and start their day, now seemed to be beating out a dying heart beat as it swayed in the wind, dangling from a now single and threadbare rope. 

Cresting the hill, Katniss gasped and covered her mouth with her hand, choking back sobs, and expletives, and vomit all at once. 

What was a school building once was now just a single outside wall, as if forming the edge of destruction. A crater wider than she thought was possible lay in it's place, filled with the bodies of men, women, and children. Some reaching out as if a cry for help. Some burned so badly there was no way to tell who it was. Some still had enough clothing to tell they were soldiers. All of them covered in what must have been a bomb of white roses to cover the stench of death. President Snow's favorite.

One body stood out to her. It was the slight frame of a girl, barely a remnant of what used to be beautiful blonde hair left atop her head. She was clutching a child to her, as if trying to shield or comfort it. 

The sobs came. It reminded Katniss too much of how she had held Prim after a nightmare, rocking her back and forth as she sang a lullaby.

Between her sobs she could almost hear the words, her sister's voice on the wind. 

_Deep in the meadow, under the willow, A bed of grass, a soft green pillow_

Crumpled on the ground, Katniss joined in, whispering softly through her tears, her shaking voice too weak to care.

_"Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes_

_And when again they open, the sun will rise."_

Looking back up to her sister's body, she sang slightly stronger, but not strong enough to cover Prim's voice. 

_"Here it's safe, here it's warm_

_Here the daisies guard you from every harm_

_Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true_

_Here is the place where I love you."_

Remembering the last words she had said to Prim before they parted ways that first day, Katniss rose to her feet. _"Good bye for now, Little Duck. I love you."_

Pressing three fingers to her lips and raising them to the sky, she felt Haymitch place a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find him doing the same. The rest of the group did it soon after, though Finnick and Johanna looking somewhat confused.

"It's an old symbol in our district," Katniss explained, staring at the crater. Sniffling she went on, "It's usually reserved for funerals." They seemed pleased enough with her answer but she continued, "It means thanks." She had to pause to collect herself. "It means admiration." Her voice was starting to quiver. "It means goodbye to someone...." A single sob escaped, and she took a deep breath, pushing through the end. "You love."

A bird somewhere in the trees whistled a four note tune, as if it were reading her mind.

_Here is the place where I love you._

X-X-X

She found Peeta in the meadow. This time of year the nights were a stark contrast to the day, the temperatures dropping enough that she could see his breath puff around him even from where she stood behind him. 

A light snow had begun to fall, making the silence that surrounded them almost deafening. It was all muffled and yet soft and peaceful. 

A break in the clouds cast a moonbeam onto the meadow, racing by like a spotlight until the hole had patched itself.

Katniss hung back at the edge of the clearing in the tree line, looking at Peeta's slumped figure. He was broken. Sure, he was a strong, independent man, but he was also a family man. And aside from losing his father and oldest brother, he had lost the men he had trained with for years, his extended family. 

Looking down at her feet to gather her courage, she saw a bright yellow dandelion peeking through the snow. On an impulse, she bent down and gently picked the little bud before approaching Peeta. 

As she sat down beside him, he startled. "Didn't hear you coming." He mumbled. 

"You must have been deep in thought then. I'll allow it. But just this once." She elbowed him lightly and he chuckled, but it was a heavy, weary sound, and she noticed his eyes were puffy from crying. 

She looked down at the little flower in her hand, noticing his eyes went to it as well.

She smiled. "You know, you did a pretty good job with that picture you drew years ago." Reaching into a pocket on the inside of her father's jacket she wore, she pulled out the drawing, comparing it to the bud. She heard his breath hitch. 

"You kept that?"

"Of course I did. I always have. I brought it here with me because I will never forget what you said to me when you gave it to me."

"W-what was that?"

She laughed lightly. "You were a very eloquent ten year old. Your mother had just-" she stared at the ground, unable to say the words. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looked up into his bright blue eyes that told her he knew - all too well - what she meant. So she skipped it. "Again, and you were here looking at the stars. I came here because it was the night my father was in the accident at the mines. I needed space, and this is the first place I thought of.

"I sat beside you and you jumped just like you did a minute ago. And then you said something I'll never forget. You said your mother was too fiery, too hot, and you didn't want to be like her. You needed, and I quote, 'What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.'

"And then you gave me this drawing. And the one thing I think of when I see it? Hope."

Peeta looked up to the tree line, a small smile finally starting to reach his eyes. 

Katniss folded up the drawing, placing it back in her pocket, and twirled the little bud between her thumb and forefinger. "I see her, you know. Prim. I see her in all the flowers that grow here in the meadow by my house. Well, what used to be my house."

She looked up, seeing the smiled had faded and his clenched jaw was in it's place. 

Looking back to the bud she steeled herself to forge on. "You know, I used to pick these all the time. Prim, too. We would bring my mother bouquet after bouquet of the things, and she always smiled, accepting them graciously and putting them in a vase - well, really an old medicine bottle - on the table, but finally told us they were just weeds. 

She told my father to go and do anything he could to keep them from growing in our garden, because they were destroying her.... I can't remember. Some fancy plant thingy she used for medicine." 

Peeta laughed lightly, causing her to smile as she continued. "But he just laughed and said, ‘Lily, no matter what I do, these little ones will keep coming back. They are tenacious little things.’ My mother would leave with a huff, only making him laugh harder."

She felt Peeta's eyes studying her as she continued. "As soon as she had left the room, he would pull my sister and I close and whisper, ‘The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.’ I haven’t picked one since. Don’t see the need to disturb their peaceful little existence. Besides…. Prim always liked their yellow color.”

Peeta smiled once again, but it slowly faded as Katniss' voice began to break. "And she loved that since my favorite color was green, and she loved that yellow, that we would always be together in the meadow no matter what."

His jaw clenched again, and he stared forward, tears of anger falling silently down his face. He looked up at the sky, his breath coming out like steam from the cold air. "What if we set _your_ back yard on fire, Snow? What would you think of that?!"

"Peeta-"

"No! It's not okay. They are all dead, Katniss. Everyone we love. Dead. Gone. At least Prim had you for a little while. I heard you singing the lullaby."

Katniss blushed and looked down at her feet. "Will you sing for me please?" Katniss began to protest, but Peeta stopped her. "My mother never sang me to sleep. Please. Please, Katn- Kit."

Her heart hurt when he corrected the name. 

"Okay," she said softly, wrapping her arms around him as he melted into her, seeming to revert to being five years old again. 

_"Deep in the meadow, hidden far away, A cloak of leaves, a moonbeam ray"_

She felt his body wrack with sobs, so she held him tighter and sang louder.

_Forget your woes and let your troubles lay, And when again it's morning, they'll wash away._

His shaking began to still, his ear resting over her heart. _  
_

_"Here it's safe and here it's warm_

_And here the daisies guard you from every harm_

_And here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true_

_Here is the place where I love you."_

After rocking for a moment more, Peeta suddenly pulled away.

"I know who you are."

"What?" Katniss began to stumble around her mind for other words.

"You aren't Kit. Kit doesn't exist."

"Of course I-"

"Katniss, please." His voice grew suddenly soft. "I heard you sing in music assembly when we were five. I was a goner from the time you opened your mouth. Even the birds stopped to listen. I would know your voice anywhere."

She had nothing to say so she simply held his gaze. 

"If I you can't even come clean about your name, after all.... _This_ ," me motioned widely back toward town, "how do I now if your allegiance to the rebellion is real or not real?"

"Peeta-"

"I don't require an answer. I already know. Once we get back to 13, you are no longer a member of my team."

He rose quickly and walked out of the meadow leaving Katniss alone, staring at the flower in her hand.

_Here is the place where I love you._

X-X-X

Katniss rose to her feet, having sat in the meadow long enough. Suddenly Haymitch appeared in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. 

"What do _you_ want?" Katniss asked darkly, far from caring about his feelings. 

He reach out to rest his hand on her shoulder like before, but she rolled it back, out of his reach. 

Making a fist, he dropped his hand to his side, his chuckle matching her dark tone. "Sweetheart, let me tell you something-"

"No! Let me tell _you_ something, you hobo.... Angel...." He chuckled again at her loss of words. "Let me tell _you_ something, Haymitch. I came here to help my father. I disguised myself under a name to protect myself. I came here to save Prim." Her voice cracked on the last word, a thick silence hanging in the air.

"Now so far, two of those thing have failed. Actually, all three in a way. District 12 has been leveled, I have been found out, and Prim is dead!" She was screaming by the end, tears pouring down her face.

"And you know what else?" She asked weakly, defeated, wiping at her tears.

"Oh no. Don't tell me. You're cow is actually a sheep." She lightly shoved his arm and he smiled. "What?"

"I have cried more than my entire life in the last forty eight hours." 

They both began to laugh, his hand finally allowed to rest on her shoulder. "I came here to do so many things. To prove myself to everyone, including myself, to prove I could protect, provide, accomplish something. Be a part of something. Be able to look in the mirror and see something worth while staring back at me. Something I _wanted_ to see."

"It takes a lot of pressure to make a diamond out of coal, sweetheart." A mirror appeared in Haymitch's hand. "Well, what do you see now?"

Studying her reflection, she finally answered. "Nothing. I see nothing."

"Well, that's just 'cause it needs a little shining, that's all. A little spit and elbow grease." Haymitch spit on the mirror and rubbed his shirt sleeve over it, holding it back up once again. "There! Now look! Isn't she beautiful? A true diamond in the rough."

Katniss scowled. "Nothing has changed, Haymitch."

He smiled sweetly. "Exactly. You have no idea the effect you have."

X-X-X

When she arrived back at the hovercraft, things were tense. 

"You could cut the sexual tension with a knife," Johanna smirked. 

Peeta glared at Johanna, then at Katniss, his gaze softening ever so slightly. "She lied to all of us."

"Not all of us," Gale piped up. "I knew."

"Knew what?" Finnick asked. 

"There is no _Kit_ Everdeen. There is only Katniss." Peeta sighed.

Eyes widened, but that was the extent of their surprise. 

"Doesn't surprise me," Johanna broke the silence.

Peeta turned to her, his voice dripping with venom. "What?"

"Brainless here is one of the ones that got all these riots started in the first place. No Katniss, no bullseye on her back."

"But how can we trust her? If she lied about her name, how do we know what is real?"

"You trusted Kit. Why is Katniss any different?" Katniss finally rose to her feet. 

"I trusted you because I _knew_ you were Katniss."

"And now that it is out in the open, and I do not deny it, how does that change things? Am I still not Katniss Everdeen?"

The cabin was silent. A crackling radio broke the tension, announcing Commander Paylor had been taken hostage by Snow's right hand man, Thread, in the Capitol, and backup was needed immediately.

After shared glances and silent agreements, Peeta ordered the pilots to go to the Capitol. 

X-X-X

They were holding her in a tree house atop a tree in the local park. After the pilot, Beetee, hacked into a local frequency, they heard conversation about wanting to kill the rebels in an environment close to their own. Out of sheer mockery. In some sort of sick, twisted game.

The six of them snuck into the park undetected, being small in numbers, they were able to hide well. 

When they were a few trees away, Gale looked up the tree closest to them. They were tall and branchless until about fifty feet in the air. "If we can get on top of a tree, we can shoot a cable across over to the tree house and zip line over, but there's no way we can make it up these trees."

Johanna turned to Katniss. "How did you get up that tree to get the knife back in 13?"

"I shot an arrow at the bald spot to use as a step."

"Can you do that to this tree? Shoot one every three feet or so?"

"Make a ladder like in 7?"

"Yeah!"

"Gale, can you take the right side with your crossbow? I don't want to use too many arrows."

After Gale nodded, they all snuck across the way, Katniss and Gale quickly aiming at the tree and shooting arrow after arrow.

Looking both ways, Johanna sprinted across and climbed the tree with impressive speed.

Peeta watched, looking a little uneasy. "Is she like... A ninja or something?" 

"Or something," Gale mumbled back, watching Johanna scale the tree like it was nothing. 

"She scares me," Rye said. 

"She scares all of us," Finnick consoled, putting a hand on Rye's shoulder. 

All of the men nodded quietly in agreement. 

"You guys are a bunch of wusses," Katniss said, looking around in disbelief. "Be a man!" 

They all looked at her with eyes that could kill. "I'll make men out of you yet," she sighed, surging forward and scaling the tree, looking over her shoulder once with a smirk. 

"That's hot," Rye said, wincing when Peeta punched him in the arm.

Once up top, Katniss shot a special arrow across to the tree house that anchored itself deep within the roof. Unbuckling her belt and slinging it over, she zip lined over to the tree house, Johanna hot on her heels.

"Drop your weapons!" Katniss shouted to the peacekeepers surrounding Paylor. 

One was foolish enough to try shooting at her, and he fell to the floor, an arrow through his eye. 

Another arrow already nocked and aimed, Katniss raised her eyebrows. "Anyone else want to try?"

They all slowly lowered their weapons, tossing them over to the rebels, and sinking to their knees.

Thread had a gun to Paylor's head, and he smiled at Katniss menacingly. "Paylor, will you or will you not tell your _men_ to stand down and agree to a cease fire?"

"No matter how the wind blows, the mountain cannot bow to it."

"Beautiful words. Too bad they will be your last." Thread began to laugh, stopping short when an arrow pierced his eye. 

Suddenly multiple members of other district 13 squads appeared, hovercrafts landing all around them, hauling off the peacekeepers.

Katniss noticed a camera hidden in a nearby tree aimed at Paylor. Looking around the tree house she noticed a video feed from all the districts watching the obviously mandatory broadcast, and one monitor held a picture of Snow, but went dead as soon as she made eye contact. 

District 13 had appeared in every district and had the peacekeepers on their knees, preparing to load them up and take them to 13's prison to await trial. 

Katniss expected all the people to be dancing and celebrating, but instead they were all riveted to their screens. 

"People of Panem!" Paylor announced looking at the camera. "We have won!" The districts erupted in cheers and dancing. 

Turning to Katniss, Paylor spoke evenly. "Katniss Everdeen. I have heard about you. You came in your father's place, you lied about who you were.... And you have saved us all." Pressing three fingers to her lips, then raising them to the sky, Commander Paylor whistled that four note bird song she had heard back in 12. Suddenly the tree house surged with the whistle as all the monitors filled with the people of the districts following suit. Looking over her shoulder she saw everyone in the tree house doing it, even Haymitch, who was now dressed as a soldier from 13.

Silent tears fell down her face. 

"And don't worry. Your sister did not die in vain. She rescued many children." 

Katniss swallowed back her pain. "Um," her voice shook. "Thank you." Paylor nodded. "And, um, what is that whistle?"

Paylor smiled, and reached out to touch Katniss' pin. "It's the song of your pin. The Mockingjay whistle."

Paylor turned back to the monitors to address the districts again, and Katniss felt a tap on her shoulder. 

She turned around with a smile, expecting Haymitch, but finding Peeta standing there, shifting his weight. "I'm sorry."

"Oh. I-"

"No, really, I am sorry. And, um.... You- I-" he cleared his throat. "You shoot good."

Katniss hesitated, raising her eyebrows. "Thanks."

As she turned to talk to the others, Haymitch swaggered up to Peeta, and rested an arm on his shoulder, Peeta never took his eyes off Katniss. "The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all." 

Peeta turned to him as if he'd seen a ghost. "What?" 

Haymitch hung his head, shaking it with a chuckle before looking back up to Peeta, then back over to Katniss. "You don't meet someone like that every day. You could live a hundred lifetimes and still not find another one like her."

X-X-X

Back in 13 they had a celebration in the main hanger. Tables were set up everywhere overflowing with food, a good deal of it bread Peeta and Rye had made.

Katniss had said hello to all her friends from 12, turning to see her father and mother watching her proudly a few yards away.

Running to them and embracing each one individually, she told them all about what had happened over the past weeks.

Delly and Madge watched her with smiles on their faces. 

"Um, have you guys seen Katniss?" A deep voice behind them making them both jump. They both dropped their jaws when they saw Peeta, each motioning in her direction with a thumb. "Thanks."

After he walked past them, Delly leaned in toward Madge and giggled. "Oooo! Sign me up for the next war!"

Peeta tapped Katniss' shoulder gently. 

She turned to face him, a smile growing on her face. "Peeta."

"Hi. Um, you, uh, you forgot this." He held out the hunting knife he had taken off her pack the day before. "Well, really, I guess it's yours," he held it out to her father who was chuckling, "but I'm not-"

Taking the knife gently from him, Katniss laughed. "Would you like to stay at our table for dinner?"

"Would you like to stay forever?" Delly called over the low din of people.

Peeta and Katniss both laughed. "Dinner would be great."

X-X-X

Haymitch hung near the back of the hanger, watching the celebration unfold, back in his hobo gear , and sipping on a glass of whiskey. 

"I know, I know," he nodded, talking again to that voice only he could hear. "You were right. She is something special."

He smiled as he watched Peeta hand her the hunting knife Haymitch had seen him swipe off her pack the day before to use as an excuse to talk to her. "But I'm not too sure about that boy."

Katniss left Peeta deep in conversation with her parents and came running over to him.

"Darlin', leave me be!" he raised his hands above his head, feigning annoyance at her presence. 

She smiled at him before looking both ways to make sure it was clear and giving him a hug. "Thank you," she said, muffled into his shoulder. 

Gently pushing her to arms length, he smiled slyly at her. "Aw, it ain't nothing." He lightly shook his glass, clinking the ice cubes. "I'm just here for the refreshments."


End file.
